Combs Ford Surgery Feedback Centre 2020

Not easy

January 22, 2025

Getting in to the surgery is the issue. I was very unwell and came to the surgery only to be told I had to go home and do an ask my gp. I said I don't go online so they told me to go home and ring in for an appointment. I did this and was called straight back to the surgery to be seen, meaning I had to walk more than I needed to. If the pharmacy across the road suggests you need to be seen they will book you in while you're there.

Anonymous

I am treated well

December 23, 2024

I have been in the area for 2 years and I have found this surgery to be very good, I'm treated well, face to face access is good, pain tretament has been good for me, I feel listened to, they referred me to AHP physio. No issues.

Anonymous

Challenging

November 29, 2024

It is challenging to see a doctor now as I've mainly been given nurse appointments and occasionally get telephone calls from a doctor. I don't know who the doctors are at the surgery anymore, I used to know but it is different now. I don't like that reception are asking questions about why I need an appointment

Anonymous

Reply from Combs Ford Surgery

I'm sorry to hear that your recent experience of the surgery has not been as positive as we would hope it to be.
There is a vast mixture of skills and level of clinicians at the surgery to ensure that all patient needs are met. Sharing a brief description of the medical issue in which you are calling about helps our clinical team triage your request and ensure it is allocated the appropriate clinician. Should any patients feel they are not happy to share this information, please make reception aware and they will note for a clinician to contact you directly to discuss instead.
Any staffing changes to GP leavers or starters can be seen on our website. Thank you for your feedback as this is useful to make improvements to our service.

Busy phones

November 29, 2024

It is difficult to get through on the phone and then you don't get to see a GP but nurses instead. It's not the easiest.

Anonymous

Reply from Combs Ford Surgery

Sorry to hear that you have felt it difficult to get through via the phones, due to increase in demand we have seen a slight delay in wait times and are working hard to reduce this. All requests pass through the AskmyGP service and are triaged and sent to the appropriate clinician for the medical issue reported. There is a vast mixture of skills and level of clinicians at the surgery to ensure that all patient needs are met. Thank you for your feedback as this is useful to make improvements to our service.

Getting access to the GP when we needed end of life care was very difficult.

November 19, 2024

Getting access to the GP when we needed end of life care was very difficult. They just didn't seem to want to know. It's changed here, it used to be such a great surgery.

Anonymous

Reply from Combs Ford Surgery

I am sorry to hear you have felt it has been more difficult to see a GP, especially under these circumstances. I will ensure this feedback is used in order for the surgery to improve the service and support we offer our patients and their families. Thankyou for taking the time to provide feedback this is imperative for us to make improvements to our service.

Frustrating and poor

November 14, 2024

I asked for a double appointment but when I went to the GP they were quite abrupt and advised me I would have to pick which was most urgent. Given that going to the GP is usually due to a concerns about your health this was difficult to chose. The GP was then very dismissive and even asked me what I expected them to do for me. At this point I did leave as was getting no-where. I didn't make a formal complaint but did ask for another appointment. Unfortunately I couldn't make the other appointment as they did not advise me in time and it was missed. I did call to explain and the reception team were very helpful. However, since this incident when I have tried to order repeat prescriptions these have all been removed and when I queried this they didn't respond to my request and only asked what medication I needed. Considering this was on my previous repeat prescriptions I would have assumed they could see this? Very unhelpful and if you make a complaint they clearly treat you differently so you feel even more isolated and unsupported. Very disappointing as I have been with this surgery for approx 20 years and the level of service has really deteriorated in the last 4 years.

Anonymous

Reply from Combs Ford Surgery

I am really sorry that you are unhappy with the care that you have received from the practice and we are grateful that you have brought this to our attention. This is certainly not the level of service that we strive to provide to our patients. I would also like to assure you that making a complaint will not in any way affect the treatment that you receive from this surgery in the future.
I would be keen to look into this further for you, please do not hesitate to contact me at the surgery in order to discuss this matter in detail should you wish to.

Nurse appointment

May 14, 2024

Called in earlier than appointment time. kind, caring nurse who listened and helped without judgement. Reception staff were friendly, attentive and efficient-thank you all

Clare Last

Reply from Combs Ford Surgery

Hi,
Thank you for taking the time to write such positive feedback. We are glad you are happy with the service provided by the staff here in the surgery. I shall pass this onto them as I know they will be really grateful to hear this.

Kind regards, Katie (Practice Operations Manager)

Pretty good

May 13, 2024

I was issued a prescription but wasn't able to have a proper conversation with the doctor about going on to HRT. Rather than having a quick face to face appointment just end up having a quick phone calls. The bigger picture is missed as are the opportunities to ask questions. Ask My GP isn't easy to find on the website and I always end up in the wrong place. The message on the phone is also very long and goes on about Ask My GP. There seem to be lots of wrong doors now.

Anonymous

Reply from Combs Ford Surgery

Good afternoon, thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review of the service you recieve here at Combs Ford. I am sorry to learn that you are not happy with how your askmyGP requests have been dealt with and I would really apprecite it if you could email me with further details so that I can investigate this further. You can contact me on combsford.dischargesummaries@nhs.net

Regarding the problem you have raised in relation to finding it difficult to locate askmyGP on the website, I have looked into this for you and can see that this is the first link on the Combs Ford Surgery webpage. If this is not the case for you, or if this is not clear, please could you let me know the details on the above email address so that I can ensure that this is investigated further and rectified.

Kind regards, Katie (Practice Operations Manager).

Been ok

May 13, 2024

The twice that I've used the surgery recently it's been good and today's follow up was arranged by them when I saw the GP last. I called but was told I needed to do an Ask My GP then I got a call to say they needed more information and then the doctor called to have an appointment. It would've been simpler if I'd just been able to call and book an appointment. The doctor was good and went through things well.

Anonymous

Reply from Combs Ford Surgery

Good morning, I am sorry to learn about the issues you raised regarding the use of the askmyGP. In circumstances such as these, where there is not enough information for us to be able to triage correctly, we have to call the patient back to gain this information. That being said, I do understand your frustrations and I am sorry that this happened. Please be aware that you are able to call the reception team who can raise an askmyGP request on your behalf, if this would be more helpful to you. Kind regards Katie (Practice Operations Manager).

Not always called back

May 13, 2024

I've found it difficult and challenging to use ask my gp so continue to call for appointments. I tried to arrange one on Friday but received no call back, so I called back late in the afternoon and although I had asked for a female nurse appointment I was told my appointment would be with a male doctor, so I was told to call on Monday but there were no female GPs available then either plus my request hadn't been recorded on the system either. So I called again this morning (Tuesday) and have been able to arrange to see a female GP. Staff are really nice but it gets frustrating when you can't get what you need.

Anonymous

Reply from Combs Ford Surgery

Good Morning, I am really sorry to learn that you are having difficulties with askmyGP and arranging an appointment, this is not the level of service we would expect any of our patients to receive and I sincerely apologise. Unfortuntley there have been times recently where we only had male clinicians available of which I am really sorry about.

I am also sorry about your askmyGP request not being on the system. As we are on the day service, patients have to raise a new request on the day of the required appointment, which in effect means they get closed at the end of each working day and why on this occasion yours did not show on the Monday when you called.

That being said, please accept my apologies for these issues. We do try as a practice to ensure that patients are offered an appointment with an appropriate clinician, and I am sorry that on this occasion we were not able to do this on the day that you first requested. Kind regards Katie (Practice Operations Manager).

Combs Ford Surgery